Katie O’Reilly ’14
Episcopal’s Upper School student council throws the annual Snowball dance to celebrate the end of the first semester as well as the finish of midterm exams. With the long winter still to come, Evie O’Brian ’14, a student council member said, “It gives our classmates something to look forward to as well as a form of motivation during the tough weeks concluding a semester.” The dance is always semi-formal, which allows students to dress up for a dance that isn’t prom. Angela Miklavcic, a faculty supervisor of the student council and member of the Science Department, said, “It is great that we throw a semi-formal dance during the year besides the prom that everyone can experience.” Students say that dressing up for a formal school dance is always a lot of fun. “Dressing up in a pretty dress is my favorite part of a school dance,” said Gianna Smith ’15. A new idea that the student council has created over the past couple of years has been having student DJs. “Students have recommended that we switch up the DJs and we have had good experience with the students who have DJed our dances in the past,” said Miklavcic. This year, Patrick Sernyak ’12 and Marian Prim ’12 are scheduled to be the student DJs for Snowball. “Not only is it great for the person attending the dance, but it is a great experience for the student DJs to have,” said Miklavcic. Jackie Blickman ’12, Co-president of the Student Council, explained how students can get this opportunity. “Whoever is interested in doing it and contacts us will typically be the one who gets the job,” said Blickman. Cheryl McLauchlan, III Form Dean and a faculty supervisor of the Student Council, said, “We have had higher success with student DJs in previous years because they know how to connect with the students at the highest level. The student DJ’s are able to play music and host a dance that he or she as an EA Upper School student would actually want to attend.” With only the Episcopal Upper School invited, the event is much different from the Can Dance that takes places in November. With the absence of other Inter-Ac schools and the entire student body being invited, Episcopal decided to generate a Snowball King and Queen instead of a Prom King and Queen, which would have excluded lower classmen from the experience. Now all students have a chance to vote for one male and one female member of the senior class as the Snowball King and Queen. O’Brian said, “In order to include everyone, this is what they thought would be the most fair.” All students are given a ballot in homeroom with every single senior listed and the winners are announced during the end of the dance. Blickman said, “By not having this classic high school tradition, the EA community felt like we were missing something, hence why we decided to add this additional component to the winter dance.” As the dance approaches, Student Council encourages students to think about attending the winter dance. If anything regarding the dance is of concern to any students they are urged to bring the ideas to a student council member. O’Brian said, “We cannot change anything unless we know that somebody wants it to be changed.” McLauchlan said, “We are currently very open to ideas so we hope students will bring them to us.” The dance will take place on January 21st at 7.30 PM and all Upper School students are welcome to come and to spend the night celebrating with friends and classmates.